Browning 50. Cal. w/swivel mount

I'm going to need two sets of models, more or less, if I understand Normal Mapping with Blender - and then there is LOD to consider, but as far as I know Blender does MIPMapping automatically, as long as it is turned on. I think each level of LOD needs its own set of models, but I might not need the LOD levels if I just use the Normal Maps. (Really in deep water now )

LOD, MIP, LOD LOD LOD... I believe I've heard LOD so much in one post right now that I can't forget about it.. Well, I suppose the LOD, MIP or whatever you called it is all about texturing and such?

LOD is Level Of Detail - usually it applies to the number of vertices/faces. So the computer is basically being told to reduce the number of verices as the player moves away from it. For instance, a tree viewed close up in the game enviroment will have a lot of detail, but the detail will be reduced as u get further away from the tree - this might mean exchanging the detailed model for a simpler one, and/or cutting away the back of any models that can't be seen.Mipmapping is the same thing but with texture files. (The computer switches a 1200x1000 pixel image for a 800x600 as u get further away from the tree.)